Just One Of The Guys
by The Queen Of Mischief
Summary: Hermione has wanted to be a journalist forever and when there's a chance offered to her, she will succeed, and do whatever it takes to boost her chances of winning. Even dress up as a guy and join Slytherin... First chappie's kinda short... BH fluff! R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

If there was one thing Hermione Granger wanted to do in life, it was journalism. She couldn't remember a time when she had wanted to do anything else. She didn't care about their pay, or their life. She knew that she wanted to be one, and that was it, end of discussion. For anyone who knew Hermione knew that she was determined to achieve something or die trying.

She should have been content as she was dating Ron Weasley, one of the elite Golden Trio. And Ron had matured quite a lot since she first met him and was quite charming now.

One day, she saw a flyer on the wall of Hogwarts, as strange as it was.

_Journalism competition!  
Send us your report on current magic affairs and stand a chance to get a junior journalist contract!_

There were more details underneath, which Hermione took out a notebook to scribble on.

When she saw the last line however, she paled. The 'judge' was Snape.

Oh, shit.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Hello, everyone!" said Dumbledore, smiling at the whole Great Hall. "I am very pleased to announce that we are going to have a dance in 4 months and everyone is invited!"

There was uproar. Someone asked "What's the theme?"

"I was hoping someone would ask me. The theme is American prom."

The girls went mad.

"Also, could Hermione Granger please see Professor Snape after dinner?"

Hermione nodded, going red cos everyone was staring at her.

She was certain it was about her report. He had surely accepted it?

After dinner, she rushed over to meet him.

"Ms. Granger, as I'm sure you know, this is regarding your report."

"Yes sir?"

"Your report really is quite well-written."

Hermione flushed.

"But I can't accept it."

"Why?"

"It's not a report, it's an essay! It should be more interesting! I don't think this is the job for you, Ms Granger. Perhaps you would prefer to be a writer, or an auror or something?" he sounded nasty.

"You're only doing this because I'm a girl in Gryffindor, aren't you?"

"I certainly think one of my Slytherins deserves this chance more than you."

"I'm going to win this competition, Professor Snape."

"Whatever you say, Ms Granger."

She walked off angrily.

--

Later that day, she dragged Harry and Ginny to the Room of Requirements.

"So, what is it you wanted to tell us, Hermione?" asked Harry.

"I told you about the journalism competition."

"Yes…"

"Snape refused mine."

"Oh, Hermione! That's horrible! You did such a good report!"

"It's because I'm a girl in Gryffindor."

"That sexist bastard."'

"I know. But he's the judge."

"So why'd you bring us all the way to the room of requirements for this?"

"I need to tell you that I'm going to dress up as a boy and enroll as a Slytherin in Hogwarts."

"_What?" _they asked in unison.

After a good deal of convincing, Hermione got them to agree to help her.

The room of requirements was soon an expert saloon/makeover place.

Ginny stood behind Hermione who was sitting in a chair, facing the mirror. "Are you sure, Hermione?"

"Yes. All of it, cut it all off."

Harry, meanwhile, had gone to get Hermione some of his clothes.

When he came back, he dropped the pile, his mouth agape.

Hermione's long hair was gone and replaced with a short boy-cut.

"Oh Merlin, Hermione,"

Hermione was almost close to tears. Her hair, all of her hair, was _gone._

She blinked them away hastily.

She thanked Harry for the clothes and changed into some of them, also making sure that her…ehms. Were not so prominent.

Not that they were so prominent to begin with. She had always thought her boobs were a bit small.

Now they were nonexistent.

When she came out of the dressing room, she looked at herself in the mirror.

She couldn't recognize herself. Harry was applying some gel into her hair for her with Ginny's help to make it look less feminine.

"You're a boy, Hermione."

She nodded bravely.

"Now, you look like a boy, but can you _be _a boy?"

"I dunno?"

"Walk."

She did, but Harry shook his head.

"No, like this," he demonstrated a very exaggerated boy walk with his each shoulder going down with each step.

Hermione imitated and they both nodded, pleased.

"Talk to me,"

She tried a deep voice, but it hurt her throat and didn't sound normal.

So she tried a tenor yet boyish voice, and it suited her look perfectly.

I mean, you couldn't expect a 'boy' with a lean figure, no muscles and an oval face to have a voice like Pierce Bronson, now could you?

"What should your name be?"

"How about Terry?"

"Me likie," said Ginny.

Harry said, "Cool,"

--

So she enrolled in Hogwarts- again- and surprisingly, not even Dumbledore saw through her disguise.

The Sorting Hat did, though.

"Ms Granger, haven't we met before?"

"Shh. Please! Don't tell anyone!"

The hat was smiling, she could just feel it.

"I'm just a hat, love. You can be in Slytherin. Good luck."

"Oh, thank you!"

But the hat didn't respond.

She went to Dumbledore and told him she had been sorted into Slytherin. He told her the dorm's password and dismissed her.

She went to the library first to tell Harry and Ginny how she'd fared.

The left once she told them, and she sat there for a moment, to recollect her thoughts.

Just then, she saw Malfoy and a few other Slytherins hexing a first year.

She _had _to make friends, even if he was Malfoy.

She laughed along with them, rather weakly, cos the kid was suffering, but then Malfoy asked "Who invited you?"

"Um. No-one. I'm new. Terry. Terry Griffith."

"Well nice to meet you Terry, Terry Griffith." Said Malfoy sarcastically.

"Let's give him the initiation," suggested Goyle.

"Excellent idea, my man. Hey, Terry, come here," she, he, did.

Malfoy grabbed him, her, by the collar and shoved him to the ground. Terry/Hermione went flying to a table, where one boy sat. He was the same age as her.

"Nice bunch of guys," Terry said, jokingly after Malfoy and his gang had left.

The boy grinned. He was devastatingly hot with inky black hair and piercing blue eyes, and an easy, flawlessly white smile and pale skin.

"I see you've met Malfoy. He sort of rules the school."

She nodded. Like she didn't know.

"I'm Blaise. Blaise Zabini."

"Hi," she shook his hand, wondering if Slytherins _were _nice to newbies.

Then she thought of Malfoy and Crabbe and Goyle and Pansy and Millicent.

This was going to be harder than she thought.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

She managed to get through the rest of the day without incident. When she finally made it to her dorm that night, she saw that Blaise was her roomie. Their dorm, for some reason, was slightly smaller than the rest and so it was only the two of them to the dorm.

"Oh, hello-" she was about to say hello politely, when she realized that she was a guy.

"Um, you, my brotha, my roomie, my homedawg! What's frying, dude?" she tried unnaturally.

"Ummm. Nothing much…"

"Cool." She felt like whacking herself. Here she was, talking to the hottest guy she had ever met and she was being stupid.

"What did you say your name was again?"

"I didn't. Terry Griffith."

"Nice." he smiled, making her heartstrings twang. _Easy there, Terry,_ she thought.

"So, who you taking to da prom?" she asked, trying to keep sounding like a guy.

"I don't think I'm going to the prom…"

"Brotha say what?" okay, now she just sounded like Hannah Montana.

"I'm not…going?"

"I am going to find you a date." She said matter-of-factly.

"I'm not sure if that's such a good idea…"

"What crazy girl wouldn't want to date you?"

"Ummm. I'm going to ignore how wrong that sounded and answer. I don't talk much. People ignore people who don't talk."

"Then we gotta make you talk more."

"Uh…huh."

"I, Hermi-um, Terry Griffith, hereby vow to find you a date for the prom."

He shrugged. "What could it hurt?"

"Exactly."

--

So, Hermione worked on her project and studied and helped Blaise out at the same time.

She was, to say the least, overloaded.

Then, soon enough, an Australian Slytherin, Sandra, discovered Terry and decided that he was cute. Around the same time, Draco's girlfriend Carrie, who was not at all bimbotic or mean, discovered Terry.

Both were cute, but she was a girl.

"Hey, Terry," said Sandra one day. "I know you and Blaise have been looking for dates for the prom. How's about I fix us up on a double date? You and me, and Blaise and my really cute Hufflepuff cousin, Jill!"

"How cute are we talking?"

"Way, way cute!"

"Okay. I guesso. Seeya then."

"Okay. Bye!"

When she told Blaise about it, he was pretty happy.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Hermione was tense with anticipation as she went over to Snape's office to submit her new report.

Her fingers trembled and the wodge of paper in her hands trembled.

She bit her lip nervously.

She entered his office.

"Good morning, Professor,"

"Good morning, Mr. Griffith. How may I be of assistance to you today?" he sounded so much more polite than when he was talking to a Gryffindor! Thought Hermione angrily.

"I want to take part in the journalism competition."

"I see. Well, you've come to the right place!" he even attempted a smile.

She was shocked at the unfairness of it all. "Yes, I know. I already wrote the report. Here it is," she thrust the paper into his hands.

He took it.

He took quite some time putting on his glasses, adjusting them and straightening the paper before reading it.

She watched nervously as his eyes scanned down and down the paper, flipping pages occasionally.

Once he was done, he looked up at her and gave her back the paper.

"I have to give you credit for trying, Mr. Griffith."

"What do you mean? You're not accepting it?"

"I'm afraid I can't, Mr. Griffith."

"Well, why not?"

"Because, it lacks emotion, feeling. Depth. Just because you're a man, doesn't mean you can't be sensitive."

Hermione was outraged, but forced herself to keep calm. "Okay, sir."

"Try again. You're a talented writer, you just need to apply yourself more."

"I see, sir."

"You do? Good."

"Well, thank you very much for your time, anyways, and I'll have a new report done soon."

"Perfect!"

"Goodbye, sir."

"Goodbye."

She left, fuming. _Why wouldn't he bloody accept her goddamned paper?_

She went back to the dorm room, where Blaise was getting dressed for their double date that night.

Oh shit. He was getting dressed. He only had on pants! OH SHIT.

Once she saw, she started to walk out of the room, but Blaise called, "Hey, where are you going?"

"Um. You're… er…"

"Dude, we're both guys."

"Of course!" she laughed nervously. "We're all guys!"

She went and sat down on her bed, unable to keep from glancing at his shirtless upper body every now and then.

He had lean muscles, nothing big and bulky, but they were there. And he was hot.

Oh God, she barely _knew _the guy!

She tried to occupy herself by fidgeting around her bag.

Then, something happened, just as Blaise turned around to face her, while buttoning up his shirt.

It made her gasp and him widen his eyes.

A packet of Tampax had just fallen out her bag.

Blaise stared at it for like five seconds and Hermione looked from it, to him, to it again, unsure of how to handle this situation.

He asked "What is that?"

"Um. They're…er…" then, a brilliant plan hit her. He didn't know what Tampax was! He didn't know that it was a brand of tampons! She could _lie. _It sounded kind of malicious.

But, eh, what could she do?

"They're a type of medication."

"They're…tampons…"

Oh shit! Why did he know that?

"Says you!" she said, defiantly. "They're tablets inside the packet!"

"Okay. Sure."

She tried to change the subject.

"So, anyway, are you excited about the date?"

"I guess so." He looked at her weirdly.

She realized a bit belatedly that it was not normal for guys to ask other guys what they were feeling.

Would she never get the hang of this?


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

That night, they all went out for their date. Turned out Jill was gorgeous, but a complete bimbo.

Sandy was completely into Terry, but Terry, for obvious reasons, was not into her.

When they came back from the date, Blaise turned to Hermione. "What the hell was that?"

"I think you mean who the hell was that…" she grinned.

He couldn't help but smile at that.

Just then, they happened to catch a glimpse of Draco Malfoy outside the dorm. He was bullying some random Hufflepuff kid.

They were getting tired of him. He was bullying everyone. He pushed them around, hexed them, and that was just the beginning.

A while later, in the Slytherin dorm room, Blaise decided to make an announcement to all the Slytherins.

"Can I have everybody's attention for a while, please?" he called.

Heads turned and those who were still oblivious were nudged into having their heads turned.

"For a long, long time, we have had the privilege of having a certain Draco Malfoy's company amongst us. Over time, he had grown to rule us. He has become superior to us all, and now we want to show our appreciation to him."

Someone whooped.

"He has shown us just how much he cares by hexing us, and pushing us around. I propose we express our gratitude to him in the same way. Who's with me?"

The whole dorm room broke into applause. Draco walked towards him, looking furious and muttering.

Carrie tried to keep up with him. "Draco, stop it! Stop! Leave him alone!"

"Not this time, Carrie," he said.

"STOP IT!"

"NO!"

"You don't know the concept of just walking away when you're angry, do you? Let me show you how it's done." She stalked off.

Draco completely ignored her and walked briskly towards Blaise, who nimbly leapt off the coffee table he was sitting on and moved back.

"Okay, everybody, let's form a circle around our favourite Slytherin of all time!"

They did. Hermione was smiling away behind him. She felt so happy for him!

"One…two…three!" the whole room erupted into hexes and shrieks to attack Malfoy.

Blaise snatched Terry's hand and dragged him to the bathroom. The men's bathroom. She had been there before of course, seeing that she must have peed in the past couple of days, but it was not the same to be there with another guy.

"You were amazing!" she said nevertheless.

"No I wasn't." he was turning red fast, lowering his head to hide his blush.

"Hey," she couldn't control herself. It was like something possessed her. She walked over to him and pushed that bit of hair that was forever falling into his face behind his ear. "You were amazing."

He was now staring at her weirdly. Oh, crap. Terry cleared his throat and pulled his hand away. "Sorry."

There was a pause.

"So… this is great. Two guys. In the _male _toilets. Doing _guy _stuff. Like _guys _do all the time."

"Um. I guess so."

This was getting tough for her…


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

It was official.

Hermione Granger was in love.

She was in love with Blaise Zabini.

She loved everything about him, from his smile, to his hair, to the way he smiled at her and the way his hair was always falling into his eyes and how he was sometimes too lazy to push it away.

She sighed. She needed to talk to Ginny.

She found her soon enough.

"Ginny, I feel miserable."

"Why?"

"I've fallen in love."

She gasped. "THEN WHY ARE YOU MISERABLE!? Love is a beautiful thing, Hermione! Cherish it!"

"Not if the guy I'm in love with thinks I'm a guy."

"Oh. I can see how that could suck."

"What should I do?

"I know! Tell him, after the ball!"

"Really?"

"YES!"

"Okay…"

--

So, Hermione concentrated only on working on her report. She tried to ignore the rush of emotions she felt when she saw Blaise and instead, continued helping him to find a date.

One day, Carrie came up to Blaise and said, "Hey, Blaise. I know you've been searching for a date to the dance, and I was just wondering, would you be interested to go? In a rush.

"Um, yes, I would love to," he smiled.

"Great! I'll see you then!"

"Okay."

When she left, he turned to her and was like "He shoots, he scores!" in a jokey way.

She rolled her eyes. Were all men like this? She was pissed. At Carrie. Stupid twit stole Blaise…

"Now, we have to find you a date,"

"Oh, no, no, that's okay. I'm not sure if I'm even going."

"You _have _to! You helped me so much to find a date, now you have to go! Do you know anyone to ask?"

"I think I know just the girl…"

--

That was how, on the day of the dance, Hermione found herself wearing a tuxedo and slow-dancing with Ginny Weasley.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." Says Ginny.

"I know, I'm sorry."

"But this is the best date I've had all year." Said Ginny, grinning.

Hermione laughed.

Just then, Ron, who has been excluded from most of this story as his mother was ill and he had gone home to help out, popped in. When he saw Hermione, his eyes bulged.

He walked up to her, "Hermione, what's going on?" he asked loudly.

"Nothing Ronald."

"Why are you dancing with my _sister?_ And what on Earth did you do to your _hair?_ Are you a woman anymore?"

Just then, Hermione snapped. "Ron, I have been putting up with your shit for too long! That is _it._"

"Are you breaking up with me?"

"Yes, as the matter of fact, I am!"

Blaise had now reached them and asked "What's going on? Terry, why are you talking to Weasel?"

She looked at him and blinked back tears.

"FINE!" said Ron. "Break up with me! See if you'll ever find a boyfriend as good as me! And since when did you start communication with bloody Slytherins? I don't know you anymore."

"You never really did, now did you?"

"I guess you're right." He puffed, storming off. The whole school was staring at them by now.

"Terry, what just happened?"

Hermione, however, was looking at the crowd. "It's not what you think!" before dragging Blaise behind a conveniently placed bush.

"What the hell is going on? You're gay? And even though I can respect that, I seriously have to comment on your choice of men. I mean, out of all the eligible guys you could have chosen, you had to choose _him?_ The Weasel? And then you cheat on his _sister? _How does that even work?"

"Okay, first of all, I'm not gay, and I only dated Ron because I thought he was nice. Secondly, I am not cheating on him with Ginny! She's my best friend!"

"Okay, that's screwed up."

"And my name isn't Terry Griffith."

"Griffith? I never noticed, but it sounds a lot like Gryffindor." He commented. "What's going on? Who are you?"

"I'm Hermione Granger."

"But that's a girl."

"I know. That's what I've been trying to tell you all this while. I'm not gay. I'm a girl."

"Okay, this is so screwed up, I don't even care anymore. Friends are supposed to tell each other stuff. And you were in the MALE TOILET WITH ME!"

"Yeah, but I wasn't looking! It wasn't my fault! I wasn't intending to become friends with you!"

"Just piss off, Ter-Granger."

Meanwhile…

In front of the crowd, Ginny was passionately snogging Harry and the whole crowd had forgotten about Terry and Blaise.

Ron was staring at them, jaw on the ground.

Blaise bypassed the crowd and went to their dorm. Hermione wasn't able to get in.

Carrie met her slouched on the ground outside their dorm.

"I always suspected you were a girl."

"You _what?_ And you never told anyone?"

"Girls gotta stick up for girls. Especially with bastards like Snape around. You have a crush on Blaise, don't you? I must have put you in an uncomfortable situation, eh? Sorry 'bout that."

"Do you mind not saying it so loud?" Hermione hissed.

"Yeah, yeah. Come on, let's get you some firewhisky."

The common room door slid open and Blaise slid out, unable to believe his ears.

_She liked him? _He couldn't help it. He had been eavesdropping. It was in his Slytherin _blood._

_Now what? _


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Life was back to normal. Ron was being a jerk. Ginny and Harry were being nice. Ginny was being specially sympathetic. She just couldn't get over it.

Carrie would come down every now and then, telling her about Blaise. He couldn't get over her, either. He had really liked her as a friend.

One day, after a severe coffee deprivation, Blaise decided that he should go and talk to her. Unfortunately, his courage faltered and he turned around just outside the Gryffindor common room, just as the doors slid open and Harry walked out.

"Ah, Zabini, I would say it's nice to meet you, but that would be weird. So, hang on, I'll just get Hermione." He went back in. Blaise couldn't say anything. Harry had made his decision for him.

In just a few seconds, Hermione's head popped out. "Oh," she said uncertainly. "Hello,"

"Hi. We need to talk."

"I know."

So they went to the Room of Requirement.

"Why did you do that?" he asked.

"A journalism competition. Snape said he would rather have a guy from Slytherin win the competition, so I did what I had to do."

He rolled his eyes. "Trust Hermione Granger to go through so much trouble to win a competition."

She stifled a tiny giggle.

"Um, Hermione, seeing that I have very few female friends, could you tell me: how do you know if a girl likes you?"

She blushed. "Well, if the girl blushes a lot when she's around you… it's kind of difficult to tell. Tell me her name and I'll check her out and see what she thinks."

Hermione was reasonably surprised that he hadn't heard the sound of her heart cracking.

"Well, I can't tell you her name, but I can tell you that she has pretty brown hair, pretty brown eyes and is in Gryffindor, shockingly.

"Younger or older?"

"Younger, I think."

She rolled the words around in her mouth. "You're talking about that Helen girl from third year, aren't you? Isn't she a bit _too _young for you?"

He rolled his eyes. "For someone as intelligent as yourself, you are rather stupid."

He strode forward, covering the distance between them in two steps, wrapped his arms around her waist, and kissed her.

She was momentarily stunned, but soon returned the kiss, after wrapping her arms around his neck. Being a whole head shorter than him, she had to tiptoe to reach.

In what seemed like two seconds, they broke off, but they were still hugging each other.

"Wow," she breathed.

He nodded, smiling. "I tend to have that effect on most girls."

She whacked him playfully before kissing him again.

Once they broke off, he ran a hand through her still short hair.

"Hermione?"

"Mm?"

"Please don't grow your hair again. I like it this way better."

She laughed softly and buried her cheek into his shirt. "Don't worry, I won't."

--

EPILOGUE

"And the winner of the competition is… Hermione Granger!" announced Dumbledore, smiling.

Hermione beamed and applause broke out.

She kissed Blaise lightly and looked at Snape, who smiled just slightly at her.

She looked at Blaise and smiled. He smiled back.

They had been going on steady for three months now.

Ron had managed not to talk to her so far, and was looking more and more pathetic by the day.

Harry and Ginny were now an exclusive couple and were more in love than ever. It was a happy ending, if there any such thing.

**THE END**

Beta: Lady Merlin


End file.
